The Cosco Scenera if you are on a budget. A diono xtsl if you have plenty of room between your back seat and front seat and the money to buy one. And a Britax roundabout for in between the two. But it all depends on your financial situation, your vehicle, if the seat goes from one car to another (ease of installation), and how long you want your child to rearface.

eta- A lot of people would say the truefit and it's on sale on Amazon right now with free return shipping if it doesn't work out for hte vehicles you need it for.

I"m assuming your child is 29" instead of 39"? lol What seat is he in now? What car do you drive? What are your rearfacing goals? I would suggest rearfacing to a minumum of 3 years old, 4 if you can make it. I can suggest car seats based on the questions above

he's in a Graco snug ride, we drive a Chrysler pacifica with bucket seats, so there is not an option to keep him in the middle, he sits behind the drivers seat right now, would like to keep him rear facing for as long as possible, I am a stay at home mom, so don't drive that much anyways, mostly walk to places in town, just a trip every once in a blue moon.

Since he is tall and heavy for his age I would go with a seat with at least a 40lb weight limit and a high harness height. These are (IMO) the top 3 seats I would consider for him.

Diono Radian R100, R120 or RXT. The R100 RFs to 40lbs and has no headwings, the R120 RFs to 45lbs and has no headwings, the RXT RFs to 45lbs and has head wings. Typically more expensive in the $200-$275 range.

Evenflo SureRide. RFs to 40lbs, highest harness of any convertible, budget seat which can be bought for $80-$100.

Graco Size4Me/MySize/HeadWise. All the same seat except the HW has "safety surround" which is extra side impact protection in the headrest. RFs to 40lbs, high harness height, easy install. Costs around $170-$200.

We have the Britax Boulevard 70-G3 for our seat after the bucket. We were lucky for we recieved it free along with our infant Britax with a stroller giveaway when we purchased our stroller and carrier. Yes BOTH seats were free! For our second car we are looking at the Britax Boulevard 70-G3, Britax Marathon 70-G3, or Recaro ProRIDE. Yes spendy, however, all go to 70 lbs, great saftey, you adjust the straps/back without retreading the straps and most accidents happen within 5 miles of your home. FYI: there is a lever on the back you push then pull up to move the headrest. This is a heaven sent and found on many seats. Britax lower level Roundabout does not have this feature. To me this feature is a must have!

We have the Britax Boulevard 70-G3 for our seat after the bucket. We were lucky for we recieved it free along with our infant Britax with a stroller giveaway when we purchased our stroller and carrier. Yes BOTH seats were free! For our second car we are looking at the Britax Boulevard 70-G3, Britax Marathon 70-G3, or Recaro ProRIDE. Yes spendy, however, all go to 70 lbs, great saftey, you adjust the straps/back without retreading the straps and most accidents happen within 5 miles of your home. FYI: there is a lever on the back you push then pull up to move the headrest. This is a heaven sent and found on many seats. Britax lower level Roundabout does not have this feature. To me this feature is a must have!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamalusbear

I have a maxi cosi pria for my DS and I love it. It's not cheap, but it is a convertible carseat so it lasts until 70 lbs.

The seats mentioned by the above pp's are good seats also. As I mentioned before the Britax seats are short on leg room so I tend to skip them. I love the Pria except DD's ears folded forward because of the head wings being close together.

Every seat that is on the market has passed the same tests and since that data isn't released we don't know which seat is "safer"...the $40 budget seat or the $400 expensive seat.

Also, realistically, no 70lb child will fit in any of these seats unless they were incredibly short. The average 70lb child is around 9-10 years old.

Talk to rescue people who have seen the results after a crash. Some crashes nobody makes it, other people do, others children may have...seat safety, how it fits in your car, and proper install does make a difference. We use Britax Frontier for our older children (100 lbs and 65 inch tall - BEAST of a seat but keeps wiggley 7 years old from slouching)...the 5 point harness is safer than lap over, tall backs safer than no backs and no backs "do pass the US test" but happen to be not legal in most countries. The rescue people in my family have seen sliced children after accidents with no back seats and differences with cheap seats. I do not need a report nor do I need to see a picture the statements from over 20 yrs of service was enough for me.